I'm not sure what it is exactly that sets the vibe of the function that is a Clairo concert, but there's been a very specific atmosphere at her Charm tour. From the jump, there were a lot of backflips — and when the artist born Claire Cottrill ended the North American run by playing a trio of rescheduled Toronto shows at Massey Hall this week, similar antics ensued.
Cottrill finished the final of the three Toronto performances last night (December 18) after postponing them from October due to "extreme exhaustion." That presumably wasn't a direct result of the audience taking over her gigs for strange main-character syndrome talent contests, of course, but one can't help but feel it might have been a factor! No Clairo shade whatsoever; the feel of Charm is definitely more laidback and open than her previous albums, so maybe this playful air of sensual silliness even makes sense.
On Night One (December 16), things were kept relatively tame with seemingly just one fan taking to the stage to show off their gymnastic aptitudes — eschewing the popular backflip route by doing a cartwheel into the splits. The landing was decidedly stuck, but the pants were also ripped in the process! What a formative experience.
Night Two (December 17) saw a group of attendees get up on stage to compete in a contest of the mouth-trumpet varietal. If you don't know what that is, that is perfectly okay; apparently, Cottrill has been doing some fun vocal trilling while performing her song "Juna," and these fans wanted to imitate it to the best of their ability. Someone even did the viral "Defying Gravity" riff from the new Wicked movie, which admittedly makes for an even funnier bit.
Finally, last night (December 18), the tour came to a rousing close with something that has been very definitive for our city — nay, nation — this year: rapping. Instead of beefing, though, a group of Clairo fans battled it out on stage with accompaniment from the singer-songwriter's (notably killer) band. There's a six-minute video of it, and (spoiler alert) while it gets better toward the end, the biggest zinger we get is, "I don't want to be rude / But you should go to someone else for your tattoos."
See clips of all of these various goofy crowd participation moments below, as well as Exclaim!'s photos from the first show.